Angela Merkel calls rise of right in EU vote "remarkable and regrettable"

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she was surprised and dismayed by the strength of some far-right and populist parties in the European Parliament elections.

"It's remarkable and regrettable," Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin.

Eurosceptic nationalists scored stunning victories in France and Britain on Sunday as critics of the European Union more than doubled their seats in a continent-wide protest vote against austerity and unemployment.

Anti-establishment parties of the far right and hard left made gains in many countries.